Dark Ascension: A Generation V Novel

by Brennan, M. L.

  She was too busy being offended on the part of murderers everywhere to listen to me, and continued. “If I was going to murder someone in their home? Full-out fucking fox ninja actions. I’d wait in the bathroom, kill whoever was first in there with a garrote so there’d be no noise, then I’d hide in the tub with the curtain drawn and wait for them to find the body. I’d wait for them to scream, then I’d jump out and stab them. Then for the third—”

  “Wow, can we just stop right there, Suze, and be really grateful that elf gene sociopathy apparently doesn’t include crazy murder planning?” She leveled a glare at me, still very annoyed. I sighed heavily, wondering exactly how my night had come to this point. “Yes, Suzume, you’re the greatest that there is, and no one else can possibly hold a candle to your badassery.”

  “Damn straight.” She nodded, and finally settled down enough to focus on the actual situation. “Now, how do you want to deal with—”

  I walked out the door and onto the porch, while behind me I could hear her say, “Oh, so you’re just going to do that. Well, okay. Straightforward it is.”

  The Neighbors had made it about halfway up the brick walkway, hemmed in at either side by about half a foot of crusted snow, and while some looked a little uncertain when I walked out, Cole’s shining white face was unmistakable, as was the rage that burned in his dark purple eyes.

  His mouth twisted as he realized who must’ve told me what had been planned. “Lilah—”

  “Is the appointed liaison to the Scott family,” I warned him, my voice so cold that I almost didn’t even recognize myself—I sounded too much like my own family in that moment, but it was what was necessary to keep these idiots alive, so I accepted it. “I’d be very careful what you say, and what you do. And right now she’s got a much better sense of wise moves to make.”

  Cole sneered. “Like the Scotts care if a witch dies.”

  I could hear the sound of Suzume’s boot heels as she walked up behind me, and knew that I could only hear them because she wanted me to. “Of course they wouldn’t, Legolas,” she said disdainfully. “But they probably care a lot about Neighbors killing with impunity—if you broke a plate that Prudence Scott hated, she wouldn’t give a damn about the plate, but she’d rip you apart for daring to break something that she owned.”

  “Ambrose is gone,” I warned them, but it was all too obvious from the group dynamics who was the ringleader. All those faces with their strange bone structure—the kind you’d see on runway models or CGI characters that looked just wrong enough to give you the shivers—were sneaking glances over at Cole, looking at him for what would happen next, grateful that he was there to talk with me. And after they’d give him a long look, they’d turn back to face me and Suze, and all that nervousness would be gone again, replaced with righteous anger and certainty—for a minute. Then they’d have to look back at Cole again. “And I’m telling you now—don’t you dare try to find him or go after him.”

  “So he gets away with it?”

  I didn’t like Cole, but there was no doubt in my mind that the rage in his voice right now was real.

  “With what he did? With what happened because of him?”

  He saw the answer in my face, and his anger carried him forward across the two feet that separated us. He was throwing a punch before I think he even knew that it was what he wanted to do, but it was coming anyway, and faster than any human could’ve been. But I was fast as well now, with speed that might’ve been the slowest of any vampire on the continent, but it was full vampire speed now. I moved away, dodging enough that I was only lightly clipped in the shoulder instead of smacked in the mouth. I realized as it happened that it was probably a good thing that I’d moved rather than tried to block in the boxing manner that Chivalry had taught me, because I could feel the power behind that punch, and it was more than a human’s, and more than that of any other Neighbor that I’d ever encountered, even on the night that we’d fought against the handpicked loyalists of the Ad-hene.

  But I’d gone through my transition, and almost all of what had kept me human had burned away with Henry’s death. I got a hand on Cole’s shirt collar and gave him a shake hard enough to make his head snap forward, but it wasn’t enough to make him think twice, and then we were locked close in a scuffle, hands kept low enough by our proximity that we were landing short, shallow punches to each other’s ribs, without enough room to maneuver. I gave a sudden shift, enough to get room to swing my elbow up fast and pop Cole in the nose with enough force that blood came pouring out.

  I wouldn’t have been able to do that a month ago. Before my transition, Cole would’ve been too fast, too strong, to inhuman for me to keep up with. But now we were almost evenly matched, and I didn’t know if it was the old me or the new me, or both, that felt that thrill and triumph when blood that was just slightly not red flowed out of Cole’s nose.

  All of this had taken mere seconds, too fast for others to be reacting, and it was only then that the other Neighbors reached us and were yanking Cole back and away, all of them straining to hold him as he pulled forward, trying to get at me. For a second, my own blood churning, nothing but a roaring sound in my ears, I took a step forward, but then Suze’s hand was around my wrist, urging me back and reminding me what was happening and where I was. I looked at the Neighbors urging Cole back and saw the unmistakable brilliance of Lilah’s sister Iris’s hair, like a newly shined copper teapot, and looked at her inhuman face. It calmed me, reminded me why Cole was doing all these things, and for just a second I felt regret.

  “Cole,” I said loudly, but staying exactly where I was, “I don’t think Ambrose shouldn’t have some kind of accounting. I’ll talk with Lilah. Then I’ll talk with my siblings—”

  “And nothing will happen,” the elf scion said harshly, his eyes brighter in the darkness than they should’ve been, his skin gleaming with that otherworldly hue that seemed to suggest that the moonlight was seeking him out specifically. He stared at me, and I could see his anger, but also his despair. “You can’t make promises for Prudence and Chivalry. Neither of them will give a shit, so whatever you say now to make it seem like you want to help us, you know exactly what I know—this won’t go anywhere.”

  He was right, and we both knew it, and everything seemed to drain out of us in the long minute that we stared at each other, leaving just dull emptiness behind. Then he turned and began walking away. Behind him the Neighbors glanced between us before falling, one by one, into line behind him.

  I started to go after him, not even knowing what I would say, just that I had to try to at least say something, but then Iris stepped into my path, blocking me. She put out one hand, unmittened and painfully pale in the cold night air, coming within a hairbreadth of touching my chest for just a second, then jerking back before she could touch me with as much aversion as if she’d just been burned.

  “Don’t worry about my sister,” she said quickly, quietly. “Cole will be pissed, but none of us would hurt her.” Her mouth pressed together and she pressed those pale fingers against her own face, almost yanking at her own skin as she looked at me with eyes that were far too empty. “I know why she told you. She says that we have to be careful to make decisions based on what all of us need.”

  A deep, painful pity filled me, reminding me of my own helplessness in this situation, looking at a young woman who had been so deeply betrayed by the ones who should’ve been fighting the hardest to protect her, instead just trying to turn her into a vessel to be used. For the barest of seconds I could almost understand why Cole would be desperate to continue to find targets for the young women like Iris, rather than have to face that feeling of helplessness. “I know you want Ambrose to pay, but I can’t let you kill him,” I said, as very gently as I could. Then, seeing nothing in her face, I continued. “Lilah already told me that you killed the Neighbors who knew, the ones who were helping the Ad-hene.”

  For jus
t a second, Iris’s glamour flickered, and I caught a glimpse of her inhumanly golden eyes with those long, reptilian slits, and the true brilliance of her hair before it was covered again by that hazy illusion. “You’re like Lilah—she asked me when there would be enough blood for me to start healing.” Anger flicked across her masklike face, tied to hurt, painfully real and human. “She told me that killing Ambrose wouldn’t help me, or any of us, and that if it would’ve, then she would’ve found a way to let us do it. She promised, and I believe her.”

  “What would help, then?” I asked softly.

  Even with the illusion, there was no hiding how very eerie the expression in her eyes was, as her face emptied entirely. “Killing the ones who are really responsible, of course.” Then she turned and left, disappearing into the darkness, following the others.

  As I looked out into the darkness of the little residential neighborhood, spotted up and down the road with its identical houses, Suze stepped up beside me. “You know who she really means, of course,” she said, her tone conversational.

  “The Ad-hene. And can you blame her?”

  Suze tucked her hands into the front pockets of her thin fleece jacket, and tilted her head to one side, considering the question for a moment. “Nope. Not one bit.” She gave a loose shrug, then nudged me playfully in the side, somehow managing to avoid all the places where Cole had connected, which were already, now that the adrenaline had filtered out of me, making their presence known in a dim, annoyed way. “Nice moves there with Cole, Fort. I got so proud when you tried to dodge that punch.”

  “Oh, is that why you just stood there?”

  “You were handling things,” she said calmly. She looked pensively up at the moon. “Real bummer about the karaoke job. If all you’re drawing for cash is that couch money you get for doing Scott work, then I guess you’ll have to take your trust-fund stipend this month. Of course, with the way things are going with the territory right now, I guess this is more your job anyway, right?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” I grumbled. I would almost welcome another rumble with mixed-breed elf offspring if it meant that I could continue not having to think of the amount of crow that I might end up eating regarding my financial situation.

  There was just the barest hint of sympathy on Suze’s face when she looked at me. “We all have to get real jobs eventually, Fort. No one can do shitty postgrad jobs forever.”

  Another long pause passed as we both pondered that nearly philosophical statement, until it was broken by Suze’s sudden, extremely annoyed realization. “Hey! I didn’t get to punch a single damn elfling!”

  * * *

  Like my own personal Groundhog Day, the next morning found me back in the drawing room of the mansion, having what felt like the same conversation with my siblings, as useful as digging holes on the beach right at the wave line.

  “This entire territory is a powder keg waiting to blow, and we’re not doing a damn thing!” I yelled.

  “You are overstating things, Fortitude,” my brother said mildly, leaning back into one of the leather armchairs and steepling his fingers, looking very much the captain of industry this morning. “Last night’s situation proves that our system is working entirely adequately, despite recent pressures. You defused and dispersed the Neighbors, and by taking the action of switching the witch families, you managed to clear up the whole problem.”

  Prudence’s response was significantly less mild, as she practically did a spit-take into the cup of distinctly Irish coffee that she was nursing. “Chivalry, how can you think that? We nearly had an interspecies brawl in the middle of Providence. What we should be doing right now is stringing up enough bodies that the races focus on preserving their lives and stop causing trouble—I suggest we start with everyone involved in this sordid little incident, and then just expand from there. I doubt anyone would be crying over the loss of a few witches and elf brats.”

  “Prudence, are your suggestions ever not based on mass murder?” I asked with biting sarcasm. “What we need to be doing is figuring out a way to actually address the underpinning issues that are coming up here, rather than waiting for things to boil over so that I have to quit my job and run around the city putting out fires.”

  At the update about my employment status, my brother looked extremely pleased. “See? That’s yet another good thing that came out of last night’s fracas. Fort, by quitting that demeaning excuse for employment, you can finally fully focus on the business of the family rather than busing tables and folding napkin swans.”

  “As thrilled as I am that one of our family is no longer debasing himself for minimum wage,” Prudence interjected in icy tones, “I’m not as sure about the directions that Fort is putting his efforts. You certainly did not ask for our agreement when you went ahead and validated travel plans for two sets of witches.”

  Tempers were on edge all around the table, and I glared at my sister. “If I’d brought it up, then we’d still be sitting here arguing, and there would be bodies on the ground. And not even ones that you put there, Prudence.”

  Chivalry had apparently decided to try to put his walkout from yesterday’s meeting entirely behind him, since he frowned at both of us. “Prudence, I have to side with Fort on this one. He found a way to work within the existing system—our population quotas remain entirely undisturbed, yet the witches are probably more content today than they were yesterday. If anything, our brother had a stroke of brilliance, and we should put someone on the task of implementing this idea of location switching as part of our overall system. Perhaps we can ask Loren about the possibility of a Web site.”

  I broke in before the train to Delusionville could leave the station. “That’s just another Band-Aid, Chivalry. And if we want to talk about things that could actually use a discussion from the group, Prudence, then how about the succubi who are still in complete limbo down in New Jersey?”

  My sister’s monumental irritation with me was clearly evident as I brought up one of the least favorite subjects yet again. “Yes indeed, a group that will bring us all trouble and no income. The last thing we actually need, given that when I popped my head in to check on the accountants this morning, one of them informed me that one of the primary ghoul businesses completely missed its final quarter tithe payment.”

  Chivalry lifted his eyebrows. “Well, that’s rather a surprise. The ghouls are usually so reliable about those things.”

  Prudence made a small moue, as if she expected so little from any of the other races that she was incapable of being surprised over yet another failure. “I’ll go over today and get the money, and remind them about their duties while I’m at it.” And from the look in her eyes, there was no doubting about what form her “reminder” was going to come in.

  “No, Prudence, I’ll go over and talk with them,” I said quickly, hoping to derail the one-woman traveling production of The Clockwork Orange level of ultraviolence.

  Temper flashed across her face. “If this territory is a powder keg, as you’ve just claimed, then perhaps our residents need to be reminded why it is a poor idea to cause troubles—and right here at hand is an excellent opportunity to set an example.”

  I refused to be deterred. “Prudence, you’re going to go straight in there and start ripping people apart. This isn’t a business that has missed payments in the past. Well, that suggests to me that this should be handled by talking—”

  Clearly yet another reference to talking was enough to break her control entirely, and she half rose from her sofa, her voice heading for the rafters. “Little brother, you are—”

  “Hush, both of you,” Chivalry snapped loudly, startling both of us into a momentary pause. He nodded at our result. “Good. Sister, we might as well send Fortitude over there and see if we can get the money owed the soft way. For one thing, the forecast today is for very sunny skies, enough that I was planning to stay inside, so you w
ill definitely be unable to drive up to Providence in any comfort at all until at least the late afternoon, and by then our brother could already have gone up and ascertained the lay of the land, so to speak. If our brother is able to sort this out his way, then he has saved you a trip, and if not, you wouldn’t be getting up there any earlier anyway.”

  Prudence did not look remotely appeased by his logic, but a glance at the sun streaming through the windows had her reluctantly acknowledging the truth of it. “And I notice that you are showing no interest at all in undertaking this yourself?” she asked pointedly.

  “Certainly,” he replied, looking not even remotely sorry. “Simone was just employed to guide a group of hikers up Mount Washington next week, and I would far rather spend some additional time with her than listen to excuses about how the check is in the mail or some idiocy like that.”

  Prudence made a wordless sound of frustration. “You are always the same in your honeymoon period, Chivalry, do you realize this?”

  My brother flinched at her comment, and his expression was profoundly insulted. “There’s no reason to be rude, sister. Simone is an utter delight, and if you would just make an effort to get to know her, I’m sure that you—”

  She cut him off with a gesture, then swept her cutting gaze over both of us. “I hope that you are not as dense as you are attempting to appear, brother, and that you are realizing what I am more than certain that Fortitude has already long comprehended.”

  Chivalry’s expression changed between one breath and the next, his eyes suddenly very dangerous, and in that moment I was abruptly reminded that my sister was not the only predator in the room. “And what is that, my darling sister?” he asked, his voice very low.

  “That despite all of Mother’s hopes, and all the vows she made us swear, this is not working.”